AT THE WINTER MARKET Gallit (left) and Chris Cavendish of Fishbowl Farm at the Portland Winter Market.

Even with Maine's short growing season, farmers all over the state are working to accommodate the needs of their customers who want to eat locally year-round. There are more winter farmers' markets and winter Community Supported Agriculture opportunities, and farmers are taking extra steps to get their products to the customer no matter the season.

They're not just selling grains, meat, and dairy products in addition to the traditional winter offerings of potatoes and turnips. Maine farmers have created online systems for customers to shop, they travel to parks and church basements for summer and winter markets, and even make deliveries.

Melissa White Pillsbury, the organic marketing coordinator of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, says she has seen an increase in winter farmers' markets over the past few years. She says farmers are connecting to customers in new ways, banding together to offer customers more of a selection, and reaching out to them online.

She adds that when customers participate in winter CSAs or farmers participate in a winter market they have a more steady cash flow, and will not deplete their reserves by the end of the season.

"Another benefit is maintaining customer contact year-round," Pillsbury says. "Being more visible and increasing (product) availability and convenience are ways to reach more customers. It is what people need to make buying local an option for them."

While CSAs are a popular way to support local farms by paying upfront for a season's worth of fresh food, there are a number of variations on the model — including self- or farmer-selected foods, and delivery or on-farm pickup.

Beth Schiller at Dandelion Spring Farm in Newcastle, said she used to follow a more traditional CSA format, but found the credit style works even better for her and her customers. Her CSA is year-round, and customers can select items whenever they want it. In the winter, she sells storage crops like cabbage, carrots, and potatoes, and home-raised pork, beef, and lamb. She also offers milk and eggs.

The model not only gives customers greater freedom in their food selections, but allows Schiller the ability to grow a wider variety of vegetables and extend her harvest through the winter.

Using an email system, customers select what they want and Schiller delivers the items to Portland and Rockland on a bi-weekly or monthly basis from November through May.

For Amy Sprague and Tom Harms of Wolf Pine Farm in Alfred, the answer was to offer a more traditional CSA, but in the winter months only.

After offering a traditional summer CSA for about eight years, Harms says they started the winter CSA in response to customers who didn't want their local-food options to end in October. The family spends their summers farming, and during the winter, partners with other farmers to offer grains, meat, storage vegetables, fruit, sea salt, and oils to their customers. This winter Harms said the farm sold 600 full shares, at $500 a share for 24 weeks of food. The website says the winter share provides enough vegetables for one to two people to eat them with most meals.

Meet your meat Opening the door to a large walk-in cooler and seeing a massive cow carcass hanging from a metal hook is a slightly jolting reminder that meat doesn't just appear in neat little packages in the grocery store.

Review: Food, Inc. You are what you eat. And if you're like most Americans, you eat hamburgers made from cows who likely spent their lives crowded in fetid factory farms, ankle-deep in mud and excrement.

Leveling the playing field A few observations on Dena Riegel's " Striking Back: Turning Feminist Theory Into a Visceral Rape Deterrent " (April 29).

Mastering a Latin classic As I was picking my daughter up from school, my ears perked up to a woman telling a child it was time to go.

Free our food "From farm to table" isn't just a meaningless foodie slogan anymore. It's the rallying cry for the smallest of small-scale farming operations in Maine, which are fighting against what they consider to be burdensome state and federal regulations.

Farming and the future The announcement of the Maine Farmland Trust's ambitious 100,000-acre preservation goal wasn't the only farming news this month (see " Another row to hoe "). And, some thoughts about what lies ahead on the green front.

TIME TO ENJOY THE FALL HARVEST | September 12, 2012 Summer in the Portland area can be hectic with its abundance of busy restaurants, outdoor markets, and a short growing season.

INDULGE WITH LOCAL OPTIONS THAT MAKE YOU STRONGER | August 15, 2012 Whether you run the Beach to Beacon every year, have just signed up for your first marathon, or are starting a new fitness routine, there are a number of local restaurants that offer healthy food to enhance your performance and help you fuel and recharge before and after a workout.

LOCAL FARMERS GET CREATIVE TO STAND OUT | July 18, 2012 With a limited growing season and high demand for local food, Maine farmers have a short window of time to get their products to the public.

CREATING AN ALL-LOCAL RESTAURANT (MOSTLY) | June 21, 2012 It has become almost second nature for area restaurants to use local ingredients and to establish working relationships with nearby farmers and fishermen.